I just recently put my summer 18" wheels back on to the Outie. I notice the car now pulls sightly to the left when under braking at very slow speed. For example, when braking at 10 km/h, let go of steering wheel, it turns the steering wheel 1/4 of a circle....Doesn't really happen under normal or high speed. Never happen with my winter tires + steel rims...

Could these be the problem?
1. Alignment Problem. (Cars got 58,000K, never done alignment)
2. Un-balanced summer tires? (Again, never re-balance them before)
3. Left front brake caliper failure?

I drove the car over 100Km/h on the freeway, and applied brakes, and it brakes normal. No pulls. Very little vibrate.
This issue happen RIGHT AFTER I put on summer tires. I did them my self and notice the problem. Decided to drive it a few days to see will it go. Still here....

Any comments?
Thanks Forum!

 

did your winter tires have a funny wear pattern?
can you swap your tires left to right?

I do know that when calipers fail, they will grip harder than the other one. if you feel like working on it yourself, you could go to a parts shop and get some caliper lube and lube up the slide pins to make sure those are working as they should. Rock Auto has a reman caliper for 35 bucks after core charge. O'Reilly auto parts has them for 38 after core. you'll spend another 15 on a bleeder and fluids.

 

I was told that white grease was okay to lube the slide pins. Is this correct? I did a brake service 2 months ago, and lube the slide pins with white grease, and pads with molyslip. My pads are also under 2 mm, so I'm replacing those tomorrow. I'll make sure I lube them up good this time and see if the caliper is okay. Thanks for the advice.

 

Also, if it really is a caliper failure, shouldn't this also happen during high speed or normal speed?

It brakes fine at normal/high speed. Just like under 15-10 km/h, it happens...Happens often, not everytime, but very often.

 

I would try ccernst's idea to swap tires left to right and see if the problem goes away or does the car now pull slightly to the right on slow speed braking. This should be obvious but make sure tire pressure is the same in all tires. Also very few roads are truly level and often have a slight grade to allow water to run off.

If it is something small like an uneven road, uneven tire pressure, or uneven tire wear, it would make sense you would notice this on slow speed braking, but probably not at higher speeds.

 

I don't know about white grease (lithium?) or molyslip, but caliper lube is a buck and is designed for brakes. I swapped out a caliper and used some for the first time...that stuff is like snot...really thick snot.

 

I wouldn't use white lithium grease. You need something that can handle the heat of a glowing rotor and pads after heavy braking.

Apparently lithium grease is petroleum based (check the MSDS sheets for flash point and autoignition points). Not good for high heat applications.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...Number=1082760